This invention relates to techniques for recovering a refrigerant fluid from mechanical refrigeration equipment, and is more particularly directed to a refrigerant recovery device which absorbs a charge of a chlorofluorocarbon refrigerant.
It is the conventional practice for repair or service personnel working with small air conditioner or heat pump units to release the refrigerant from the unit to the atmosphere prior to servicing it. This means that over a long period of time, a rather large quantity of chlorofluorocarbon is released into the environment.
Recently, there has been a great concern over the adverse effect of chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants on the earth's upper atmosphere, and particularly on the depletion of the ozone layer in the ionosphere. These refrigerants are highly effective as long as they remain contained within their systems. On the other hand, the recognized danger from the continued release of these refrigerants to the atmosphere has led to proposed legislation to limit or curb production and use of chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants. Consequently, there is an increased need for simple devices that can be used in the field to recover refrigerant for future reuse, or for later chemical treatment. However, no one has previously proposed a simple, yet suitable technique for this.
While it has been well known that many hydrocarbon oils can readily absorb chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants, this fact has never been put to any effective use in a refrigerant recovery system.